Back in the day point guards were solely relied upon getting their teammates involved, and allowing the offense to flow around that one central player basically. Point guards like John Stockton (13.1 ppg, 10.5 apg), Jason Kidd (13.2 ppg, 9.1 apg) and Mark Jackson (9.6 ppg, 8.0 apg) are just a few off the all-time great floor generals that were labeled as “pass-first” point guards. But nowadays, the culture of the NBA has changed significantly, and the ability for point guards to score the basketball is seen around the League on a number of teams.

In just his third season, Derrick Rose is arguably the most athletic player at the point guard position, and has put together totals of 20.9 points and 6.7 assists per game for his career. Deron Williams is fully capable of both dishing and shooting, notching 17.2 points and 9.2 assists in six seasons. Chris Paul is always mentioned near the top of the point guard lists, and with averaging nearly 19 points and 10 assists per game over his career, there’s no questioning as to why. Russell Westbrook (17.8 ppg, 7.1 apg), John Wall (16.4 ppg, 8.3 apg), Brandon Jennings (15.8 ppg, 5.3 apg) and Tyreke Evans (19.1 ppg, 5.7 apg) are also a few other young names that come to mind that will continue this trend in the future.

It’s no longer ordinary for point guards to to just dish out the rock. The time has come for these combo guards to take on a new role as both a passer and prolific scorer.